1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to the diagnosing of a business office device such as a printer, facsimile machine, scanner, or copier which determines an abnormal condition therein based on an operating parameter set by a user which controls the operation of the business office device. The invention is more particularly related to analyzing the user setting of the print density (e.g., darker or lighter) in order to determine if a printing operation is being performed correctly. The invention is still further related to the communication between a diagnostic service center and the business office device which is performed in order to complete the diagnostic process or to call a local service center to have the business office device repaired.
2. Discussion of the Background
The monitoring of faults in business office devices such as facsimile machines, printers, scanners, or copiers is well-known. An important operating parameter of a print forming device such as a printer, facsimile machine, or copier is the image density of printed images which is closely monitored and controlled in order to assure high quality prints from the copier. There are various known ways to monitor or adjust the print density, such as by monitoring the toner concentration, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,475,476 to Murai. Further, other techniques for monitoring and controlling image density are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,175,585, 5,333,037, and 5,317,368. A feature of the above patents is the monitoring of print density by forming a toner pattern and evaluating, using a sensor, the resulting density of the toner pattern. Each of the above related art patents are incorporated herein by reference.
In addition to monitoring the various operating parameters of a copier, it is also known to monitor the occurrence of occasional faults in a copier to statistically predict when the failure of a part will occur. Such a monitoring of problems and performing a statistical analysis to determine a probability of component failure is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,053,815.
However, the present inventor has recognized that the conventional fault monitoring systems input their data through electrical or electrical-mechanical sensors and are only as accurate as the accuracy of the sensors. Further, conditions which the diagnostic software determines to be acceptable might not be acceptable to the majority of the users.